Cumbria Yoga Foundation – A New Approach To Sustainable Community Delivery

Cumbria Yoga Foundation (CYF), founded in 2018 by Chair Caroline Robinson and a registered charity since 2020, first approached Active Cumbria in 2023 for support to instigate a revolutionary approach to community yoga – working towards their vision to create a healthier, happier, kinder connected Cumbria through accessible, affordable community-based yoga sessions. 

CYF’s three-tiered approach to sustainable delivery (fully funded and free to attend, part-funded, or participant-funded), which is chosen and implemented based on consultation with participants following an initial trial period, helps to ensure that projects can survive, and thrive, in the long term. 

Since 2023 Active Cumbria’s Live Longer Better in Cumbria Reconditioning Fund has supported CYF to begin delivery in a number of locations across Cumbria including Carlisle, Caldbeck, Keswick, Maryport, Workington and Barrow, working alongside trusted partners such as the NHS, Northern Fells Group, Healthy Hopes, and Age UK. A new video documenting the class delivered in partnership with The Centre West Cumbria in Maryport has been released. It demonstrates how the benefits of yoga encompass physical, emotional and social wellbeing, and provides a tool for both CYF and Active Cumbria to promote the classes on offer and, more widely, yoga as an effective method of health improvement. 

Many of CYF’s sessions have adopted the ‘fully funded’ method of sustainability following an initial trial period and remain completely free to attend, ensuring their continued accessibility to all regardless of socio-economic situation. They utilise external funding such as that available through Cumbria Community Foundation, Town Councils, and Local Authority Community Investment funds, as well as benefitting from fundraising events and CYF’s ‘Pay On’ scheme, which allows those who can afford to the chance to contribute to the cost of running classes in the most deprived areas of the county. In collaboration with local ICCs, Yoga on Prescription is also now available in Cleator Moor and Whitehaven, with plans ongoing for further expansion. 

In addition to increasing their delivery, CYF have also committed to building the workforce of yoga teachers, particularly in West Cumberland where a noticeable shortage was identified. In 2024 Sellafield’s Sport and Physical Activity Fund enabled three individuals to undergo 200 hours of teacher training, plus additional Chair Yoga CPD. All three individuals embody CYF’s commitment to redressing the yoga participation bias – a pledge to build awareness that yoga is suitable and beneficial for all. 

More information on Cumbria Yoga Foundation’s work, and information about how to attend their sessions, can be found on the website >>click here.